A new baseline for innovation benchmarking is developing in industry today. Business Week's Second Annual ranking of the 25 top innovative companies (April 24, 2006), is the beginning of this emerging definition. Among new indicators are product/storefront design (witness Apple computer and IKEA), and the broadening of the definition of innovation itself (with some companies remaking their supply chains, sales channels, and even their business models.)

T65 presents the results of a global benchmarking study conducted by GGI on what top management can do to foster innovative and strategic culture/behavior in its organization. It also provides seven tangible techniques for senior managers to encourage productive corporate climates.

Additionally, the report presents primary market research on the tactics most companies use in their product development process, such as Voice of the Customer, product specification techniques, and FMEA. The paper lists the top six innovation tools used out of 21 surveyed.

In 2006, GGI conducted additional primary research related to an emerging group of tools designed to foster innovation, fifty-six of which are now in existence. The paper also discusses several senior management decision areas such as cost of ownership, length of time to learn, and cost of acquisition.

The paper concludes with a list of the top 30 metrics used by companies to measure innovative behavior, including average case expense cost per project/product, and percent of ideas/concepts accepted or rejected.ISSUE

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